UK rising star Faye Fantarrow shared a new single on Friday (Feb. 3) via Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart’s Bay Street Records. The soulful ballad will act as the title track for her forthcoming EP.
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“Life very rarely goes to plan but the plan was always to write, sing and perform and I’ve been lucky to be able to do that,” Fantarrow says of the song. “‘AWOL’ is the title track from my forthcoming EP, which I am so proud of and the fantastic opportunity I was given to work and record with Dave Stewart will be forever special to me.”
The single mixes folk elements with a pulsing beat. Her eclectic inspirations are well on display as she sings driving at sixty / through the cold and the dark parts of this city / no red light shows. Listen to the single, below.
Fantarrow’s debut comes following her diagnosis with an extremely rare and potentially fatal Glioma brain tumor. She has previously battled Leukaemia twice since being first diagnosed at eight years old.
“Faye Fantarrow is a rare jewel from the North East,” Stewart said of the 20-year-old singer. “She’s from Sunderland, a city with a big heart, and there’s no bigger heart than Faye’s. As a songwriter and performer, she tells stories to make you explode with joy or weep along with her at the trichotomy of the human spirit.
“Faye is one of a kind and I love her dearly as a sister, a daughter, and a great music partner,” he continued. “We had an unbelievable time together while recording this EP. Both in search of musical freedoms, two souls laughing constantly at the joy of creativity. I love Faye Fantarrow.”
Fantarrow has been heavily lauded in the UK, including being on the BBC’s 2022 Ones to Watch list and winning Alan Hull’s annual Songwriting Award in 2021.
Fantarrow started a Justgiving page for highly promising and potentially life-saving experimental treatment in California and raised over £235,000. Due to her health issues, the accompanying EP will be released early on Feb. 10.
Faye Fantarrow “AWOL” Cover Art / Courtesy of Milestone
